A20556:626
A plain and familiar exposition of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth chapters of the…A plaine and familiar exposition of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth chapters of the…
A plain and familiar exposition of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth chapters of the Proverbs of SolomonA plaine and familiar exposition of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth chapters of the Prouerbs of Salomon
London: printed by Thomas Haveland for Thomas Man, 1609London: printed by Thomas Haueland for Thomas Man, 1609
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Verse 9. He that covereth a fault, seeketh love: but he that repeateth a matter, separateth a chief friend.
Verse 9. He that couereth a fault, seeketh loue: but hee that repeateth a matter, separateth a chiefe friend.
HE that covereth a fault] that passeth by an infirmity, that burieth an offence, as much as may be, in silence, [seeketh love] by showing love to the party, preserveth concord where kindness was before, and taketh the way to make him ⟨p. 130⟩his friend who was before but a stranger to him: [but he that repeateth] which looketh too narrowly into every slip, and is raking into mens frailties, especially so as to blaze them abroad to others, [separateth a chief friend] doth alienate the minds of those that be dearest unto him, and maketh them his enemies. Yet it is not against the rule of love to tell men lovingly of their faults; for that helpeth them to repentance and reformation, and cureth their credits, the blemish thereof being wiped away both from the eyes of God and men, as S. James saith: If any of you hath erred from the truth, and some 1man hath converted him, let him know that he that hath converted the sinner from going astray out of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. Neither is it unfit, but needful sometimes to acquaint others with the transgressions of our neighbours, if it belong unto us to be their Physicians; as Joseph did Jacob with the infamy his brethren ran 2